Chapter Fifteen
Hermione leaned heavily on the counter looking at her reflection. She looked as terrible and tired as she felt. Blood was smeared across her cheek and clothes. Thankfully she had thought to tie up her hair when they were brewing the antidote so there shouldn't be any blood there.
She stripped off her shirt and joggers and wet the washcloth scrubbing her skin with the lemon and lavender scented soap Zabini set on the counter. Hastily she washed her face, arms, legs and torso until the water ran clear when she rang out the washcloth. She took her hair down and inspected it, making sure there was no blood drying she hadn't seen, she'd take a proper shower when she got home but for now she was satisfied she was clean enough.
The clothing Zabini had left her were clearly Malfoys, an old Slytherin Quiddich t-shirt and soft black shorts which came past her knees. The shirt was well worn, Malfoy's name and team number scrawled in black and green across the back of it, a small hole in the left sleeve.
Zabini either grabbed her the oldest clothes he could find or had chosen the shirt as some kind of sick joke, but since she didn't quite feel like putting back on her blood soaked clothing now that she was clean, she slipped it on. She rolled the shorts down to keep them from falling off her hips and exited the bathroom.
Nott choked on the brandy when she walked back to the fire. With a slightly wicked smile Zabini thumped him on the back. Malfoy meanwhile looked positively murderous.
"I swear to Salazar, Blaise, I will-"
"Feeling better now you're all cleaned up and in fresh clothes?" Zabini asked innocently, ignoring Malfoy as Hermione stood awkwardly by her chair.
"If there's a problem I can change if you grab me another shirt" Hermione offered, clearly there was something going on here she wasn't aware of.
"No." Malfoy snapped and she flinched. "No, you're fine… as long as you're… comfortable." he added politely but his eyes on Zabini still promised bodily harm when she wasn't present.
She sat down hesitantly, feeling uncomfortable with all of their attention trained on her. She cleared her throat which was suddenly very dry. "Right. Now that your upholstery is safe, I think it's time you explained what's going on now, if you please."
Zabini raised a curious eyebrow at Malfoy, while Nott offered her the Brandy bottle. She shook her head but he poured a swish into her teacup anyhow. "You might need that." He told her.
Whatever silent conversation was going on between Malfoy and Zabini had ended and Malfoy sighed, clearly the loser in their nonverbal squabble.
"Right. The beginning" He said tiredly. "Do you remember Astoria Greengrass? She was two years behind us at school but her sister, Daphne, was in our year."
Hermione nodded, a bit confused as to how this was the start. Blonde, blue eyed and willowy, the Greengrass sisters were basically Slytherin royalty on the same scale as Malfoy himself. She never really had any dealings with either of the sisters directly as they ran in very different social circles.
"Asoria and I were betrothed from almost our infancy." Malfoy continued. "It was an understanding between our two families that our union would strengthen our lines. It wasn't a love match by any means but it made sense in a certain light. When the war started Astoria and Daphne were sent far away. Their mother, Juliete, took them to Switzerland, while Philip, their father, stayed during the war. As you know he passed away during the battle at Hogwarts."
"Astoria and Daphne returned from Switzerland while we were in our last year in Azkaban and wrote to us. While abroad her mother had passed away but not before she had disclosed a family secret. Daphne and Astoria had a blood curse which would shorten their lives considerably and it would work even faster if they ever had any children. The problem was, Astoria was already secretly with child." Malfoy's eyes were distant..
"Obviously it wasn't mine. She had fallen in love with some wizard she had met during her travels. He didn't know who she really was at first, it was dangerous for them to use their true identities, even abroad. But she loved him and after a whirlwind romance, she told him her real name and history. He abandoned her."
Zabini muttered something unintelligible in Italian that might have been something unkind about the wizard's parentage and took another drink from the brandy before passing it to Malfoy.
"She wrote to us asking us for help, they had money but they had no one to turn to for help. St. Mungo's is notorious for not treating our kind with the highest quality of care, more than one former supporter of the Dark Lord has entered for help and never walked out again. Underground or private doctors were just as much of a risk. Astoria was frightened and desperate but there was nothing we could do until we were released. We offered her as much assistance and comfort as we could. Theo wrote to any of the surviving family doctors to ask for hell and Blaise and I offered as much insight into the condition as we knew."
"Astoria was many things but she wasn't stupid, she knew we couldn't save her, she knew the curse was a death sentence. She just wanted us to help her get as much time as possible for the sake of her child. We calculated how long she would have if the curse took its natural course, even with the child she would have several years, we begged her to wait until we had been released to do anything, to be patient. But two months before we were due to be released her letters stopped."
"The moment we were released we went to find her but we were too late. She had enlisted the help of someone she thought was trustworthy, an old friend of the family who told her she could help with the blood curse. Astoria paid her handsomely and, according to Daphne, at first the treatments did seem to be making her stronger." He took a long drink from the brandy bottle and passed it to Nott who was staring unseeing into the fire. "We'll never know if the friend poisoned her intentionally or if someone got wind that this person was helping someone with ties to the Death Eaters. Regardless, the last treatment she took was tainted and when we finally found her she had days, not years left. She died giving birth to her son, Scorpio."
Zabini placed a hand over Malfoys and took over the story. "Officially,Scorpio died unborn when Astoria passed and the ministry thinks Daphne is still living a solitary life on her family's country estate in Brussels. Off the record, Scorpio survived and Daphne adopted him after the funeral. We paid to get them new identities and smuggle them out of the country. Only the four of us in this room, Daphne and the Greengrass family doctor know that Scorpio survived."
"For the rest of us, over the years it has become harder and harder to get anything more than the most basic of potions ingredients. The ministry keeps tabs on us, waiting for us to do something desperate or illegal but more than that, our supply lines for potions and ingredients are constantly tampered with. Several of our acquaintances have already been killed by poison or tainted ingredients."
"Alistor Fawley, he was three years ahead of us in school. Poisoned. Nice chap, was studying to be a lawyer. He was a bit of a bookworm, you probably would have loved him." Nott said with a sad smile.
"Yesenna Yaxley and her twins Jenna and Magna. They were just about to start their first year at Hogwarts and Yessena was teaching them to brew an acne cure potion, only someone had replaced the crushed beetle's eyes with manticore claw powder. The fumes killed them before they even made it to St. Mungo's." Zabini added
"I don't think they ever found old or her husband's body after her cleaning potion exploded. Their son had to bury empty coffins" said Malfoy darkly.
"The point being" he continued "That potion making and buying is exceedingly dangerous for people who have ties to or are themselves former Death Eaters. Which is why the need for someplace like Zosimos Emporium is so important. So what happened to Astoria and the others can't happen again. It's safe for everyone, of any background to get their necessities without fear. Anonymously."
"I don't understand, why don't you go to the Aurors? Surely they could help put a stop to this?" Hermione asked horrified.
Blaise snorted.
"Do you think your Auror's are in the business of helping Death Eaters?" Malfoy sneered. " For Astoria's sake we tried your justice system. It's been cold for nearly four years now and no one has bothered to so much as interview those involved. Your system only works for people like you Granger. To them, justice isn't something we deserve."
"So… you've just been testing potions on yourself willy-nilly for everyone until this supply store gets up and running?" Hermione asked sceptically. "Even you aren't that dim witted Malfoy. Zabini and Nott said this happened two nights ago as well."
Malfoy shot Zabini a withering look which Zabini pretended not to notice."What or Who are you so desperate you're willing to risk your life for?"
"Madre." said Zabini at the same time Nott said "Mum".
"Mother hasn't been sleeping well." Malfoy clarified tightly. It took Hermione a moment to realise that all three were talking about Narcissa Malfoy.
"You heard the screaming when we were downstairs. On nights she doesn't get any Dreamless Sleep or Calming Draughts she sleepwalks or has night terrors and sometimes even the potions don't help. Normally she doesn't remember in the morning but she's left exhausted and weak, it's taking a toll on her health." Hermione refrained from pointing out that it was clearly taking a toll on his health as well.
"As you know Dreamless Sleep has some ingredients which can be difficult to procure even when you aren't a social pariah. Generally we prefer to make our own as the premade ones are easy to get but also easy to tamper with, but we're getting desperate." Malfoy ran a hand over his face. "When we're able, we've been trying to come up with a more effective potion but we have been relegated to the theoretical until we are able to get the ingredients."
Hermione took a drink from her teacup and choked, she had forgotten Nott had filled it with brandy.
He gave her a half-grin "Told you'd need the drink"
After a brief coughing fit Hermione took a much smaller sip and let the brandy warm her throat. Their story made sense, even if she hadn't watched Malfoy almost die tonight she would have been convinced. It made her choice to help them somewhat more palatable.
"Right. Now, any questions you may have, I beg that you save them for tomorrow. Draco needs to get some rest and I need to return you to your home" Blaise said, standing from his chair.
"I'll take her home," Nott said, also standing.
"Now now, I'm touched but don't all of you offer to stay with me at once." Draco said dryly.
Blaise hesitated but then nodded to Nott who grabbed a coat and headed for the door. She only glanced back once as she left the room, Malfoy was sitting in his bed, Blaise clucking around him like a mother hen, straightening his comforter and fluffing his pillows but Malfoy's grey eyes were on hers as the door shut.
Nott handed her one of the glowing marbles and they made their way back to the apparition point. This time there was no awkwardness when she wrapped her arms around him, she was too tired to feel anything other than the bone aching weariness that was washing over her.
"I'll wait here until you're in your flat, just wave out the window so I know you haven't been murdered in the stairwell. Draco would kill me if you died." Nott said, stifling a yawn as they stood in the shadows of the alley behind her flat. She checked her watch, it was after three in the morning.
"Hey Granger" he called and she turned back to him one hand on the door. "Thank you again, for helping us." He didn't meet her eyes, his hands in his pockets.
"listen, I know you didn't have to and we were utter prats to you at school, especially Draco, and you probably aren't thrilled you feel obligated to help a bunch of Death Eaters with this now but if you hadn't…he would have died tonight… and we wouldn't-" He swallowed hard.
"He means everything to us, you know? I'm not exaggerating when I say that Blaise and I wouldn't have survived without him." He cleared his throat. "Anyhow, I know you aren't particularly fond of us but whatever happens I want you to know how grateful we are."
Hermione didn't quite know what to say so she just nodded and gave him a smile before hurrying into her apartment. Once inside she crossed to her kitchen, opened the window and waved. Nott, just visible from the shadows, waved back and disapperated.